Superficial hemorrhagic fissures of the skin are distinctive clinical lesions caused by splitting or cracking of the epidermis. They probably represent exaggerated instances of a type of superficial cracking that has been called erythema craquelé. Most commonly the fine linear discontinuities of the surface surmount corresponding linear tracks of hemorrhage in the upper dermis and tend to cluster on the lower extremities. Although sometimes dramatic enough to suggest falsely a major purpuric disorder, the lesions are only a local phenomenon apparently related mainly to dryness and edema. Nine patients provided clinical and microscopic examples for this report.